Fire Department Lt. Jay Hayes said the person who allegedly stole electricity to grow marijuana plants in a Weir Village apartment house that caught fire Thursday was courting tragedy.

TAUNTON — Fire Department Lt. Jay Hayes said the person who allegedly stole electricity to grow marijuana plants inside the basement and third floor of a Weir Village apartment house that caught fire Thursday afternoon was courting tragedy.

Hayes said there weren’t any smoke detectors in the three-family house at 25 Second St., which according to Registry of Deeds and city records is owned by Matthew Davidson.

Hayes, who is conducting the local-level fire investigation, said he spoke to the owner at the scene after the fire was extinguished.

“He said he didn’t know anything it,” Hayes said, referring to what he said were more than 30 marijuana plants confiscated by Taunton police from the basement and a third-floor room.

“He denied the whole thing (and) said he wanted to talk to his lawyer,” Hayes said.

Hayes said the building's purported owner — who did not divulge his name — told Hayes that his mother has been living in the third-floor unit.

Hayes said a standard conduit piece was used to conceal the TMLP wire coming off the utility pole so it would bypass the company’s meter before entering the building.

“It looked completely normal to the naked eye,” he said.

Hayes said there’s no excuse for not having invested in smoke alarms, which, in addition to carbon monoxide alarms, is required by law for every habitable level of a residence.

The Second Street house is now vacant and, pending repairs, is deemed by the city to be uninhabitable.

Hayes said repairs to the structure could easily cost as much as $200,000.

Registry of Deeds records show that Davidson in 2011 paid $229,000 for the house and real estate, which includes a small garage.

Hayes said the electrical fire began when wires that had been rigged to divert surplus electricity from Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant were unable to handle the load.

And because there was no fuse panel, the overload caused the wire jacket to fail and led to combustion, he said.

Hayes, said the fire, which started in the ceiling above the second-floor apartment, was in its “incipient stage” — meaning it could have been controlled with a fire extinguisher — for “at least 45 minutes.”

A 20-year-old woman who spoke to the Taunton Daily Gazette on Thursday, shortly after she said she and her boyfriend ran out of her family’s second-floor unit, credited his dog for possibly saving their lives.

Vanessa Kostecki said the dog began barking after he smelled smoke from the fire — which by then was in the hallway wall and spreading up to an attic space and roof line of the building.

“If not for the dog, someone could have been seriously injured or killed,” Hayes said, especially if the fire had ignited when it was dark and everyone was asleep.

“These people got lucky,” he added.

The third-floor tenant and two men living on the first floor, Hayes said, were not home when the fire broke out.

But firefighters did save a miniature pinscher, which was revived with an oxygen mask, after they forced open the third-floor door.

Recreational marijuana is now legal in Massachusetts, but the maximum number for private growers is six plants per person or 12 per residence.

Hayes said even if the owner claims he had no knowledge of the grow operation, he still could face charges.

Hayes said the grow operation inside the Second Street house consisted of air-conditioning equipment, chemicals, fans and specialized lights.

He described it as “one of the best I’ve ever seen — top-notch.”

Hayes, who says he’s been doing fire investigations 12 of his 22 years with the fire department, said fire and police officials are more concerned than ever that these types of illegal and potentially hazardous operations will continue to thrive.

In addition to possible fines and criminal charges, he said the building owner might find out his insurance company is reluctant to provide monetary relief, due to the circumstances of the fire’s origin and causation.

Mayor Thomas Hoye Jr. said he’s also concerned.

“Growing operations like this can’t exist. People who do it are irresponsible,” Hoye said.